Until My Love Reaches You
by Tsugaru-chan
Summary: ShizuoXSakuraya  An alter ego of Izaya Orihara   Sakuraya is a lonely boy living in the rural areas of Ikebukuro with no one to talk to other than his inanimate friends and cousins... Of course that is until he runs into the strongest man in Ikebukuro...
1. Chapter 1: One Step Closer to the Future

**((AN: Hello everyone! I am Tsugaru-chan, I am new, and as you can all tell and this is my 1st [well, not my first…] fanfic that is first to be posted up! SO, onto the details, this is a pairing of one of Izaya's alter egos Sakuraya and then the character [Whom I Love the MOST] Shizuo Heiwajima from the anime DRRR! or Durarara!. Anyway, I hope you do enjoy the fanfiction that I actually really like [Compared to the others I wrote…]. Please favorite and review! :3 I will give you a hug if you do.))**

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><p><strong>Sakuraya's POV<strong>

"Oh Momoiro, I wish you could come and take a walk with me. The sky is clear and blue with no cloud in the sky. The sun makes the world warm and comfy… You rarely get a nice day like this…" I say to my small friend, stroking her small frame, gently. "Too bad you're a flower… Along with everyone of my other friends…" I stroke Momoiro's soft, bushing pink, rose petals, adoring the healthy glow of the flower, and envying the nice and lazy lifestyle she gets to live without a single care in the world. They had many friends while I had none because of how isolated I live in the rural areas of Ikebukuro, Japan. Maybe that's the reason I'm scared of other people (Other than my cousins). Compared to Izaya, Roppi, Hibiya, and Psyche, they live in the city and know people and know how to deal with these types of people (Or do they?). Most of my life, I've lived here with only myself as my brothers started to move out as they grew older. I breathed in a sigh as I gave up the thought of ever being able to deal with such contrasting types of people and stood up, starting to head inside.

I walked slowly towards my door, gaping at the endless blue and imagining what it would be like to have a friend to walk home with. _It would be great… We would be talking about our favorite things to do, and the things we wish we had, and sharing food, and maybe even-_ "Ow!" I quietly voiced as I realized I had bumped into the wall of the back of my small, white cottage. I placed my left hand on where I had hurt myself and felt a slight sting of pain run through me, immediately pulling my hand away and just focusing on sliding the back door open. I grasped the handle with my right hand, used my energy, and pulled towards the left and finally got the door to open. I dropped my pink slippers on the floor of my backyard and stepped up to the mount of my back door, entering the house and feeling its cool air rush to my side. I turn back around and pull the door the opposite direction and with a firm _bam_, the door connects to its hook, my index finger pulling up the little latch and locking it up. But just in case, I pull it the opposite direction again to see if it opens and it firmly stays closed.

I turn around and put on (again) inside-the-house, fuzzy slippers and start to walk towards my little sofa. I plop down onto my pink sofa and lie down, tired and drowsy from bathing in the sun. Unfortunately, right when I was about to fall asleep, my phone rang. I didn't feel like standing up so I let the voicemail take the call. However, when the voicemail started to voice who was actually calling, I forced myself to stand up, run, pick up the phone and take the call, panting and tired from running. "Hah… Hah… Hello?" I vocalized to the electronic device. The person on the other line replied,"Hey Sakuraya! Long time no see cousin." Thats when I realized that the one calling was Izaya… Izaya Orihara… The oldest and the head of our family. "It's Izaya and I just wanted to see if you can come over to the city so we can hang out since we haven't seen each other in 6 months." My eyes widened as I took in what Izaya had asked me. He was inviting me to come over to the city… The city… The one place that I am really scared to go to… But one of the places where I can make friends… I started to debate with myself. _I mean I-I know I'm afraid of p-people… But maybe this is a chance for me to make friends! I mean… That's what I've always wanted… Right? To be able to talk to someone other than my cousins… And to meet someone I like-_ "Are you still there?" Izaya interrupts, questioning me. "Oh yes! I would love to come!" I instantly blurt out without thinking completely. "Okay, good. Come over now or sometime this week, okay? Today would be best though. Anyway hope to see you soon. Bye Sakuraya." -Beep Beep Beep Beep- the phone goes as I hold it firmly in my hand staring at the telephone stand it connected to, thinking _what have I just done?_

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><p><strong>Shizuo's POV<strong>

"THAT DAMN FLEA! He better keep out of Ikebukuro. There is no need for someone in the world like him. He's just a virus that needs to stick its dirty little head into everyone's business!" I (pissed off) said to myself, lighting a cigarette and then placing it in my mouth. "I hate that guy… He's evil… He should go die in a hole…" I, Shizuo Heiwajima, quietly say to myself, pacing back and forth. "He's despicable… He's right there… He uses deceitful tactics… He uses blackmail… WAIT!" Then I stop abruptly in my track when I noticed a very… Annoying tick that I must kill. That very… Detestable eskimo wannabe thing that should be exterminated by me VERY soon. I knew I had sensed something… Now, it's action time.

I grabbed the cigarette out of my mouth, threw it on the floor, and crushed it under the pressure of my foot. Only then did I start to run after the damn flea and thought, _hey wouldn't it be easier to just kill him in one hit by hitting him with something "heavy?"_ So, I ran over to one of the electric light poles, positioned my hands firmly on the cement base, and started to use all my strength and lifted the pole off of the ground with no effort at all (It was really easy. Seriously, try it one time). "!' I yelled and launched the pole in midair, hoping to hit the flea. Sadly, it missed him by a single foot and ended with him turning around, smirking at me (I think he was also laughing…), and then dashing off the opposite direction. It annoyed the **** out of me, and involuntarily, I sprinted after the flea at top speed, pushing everyone out of my way.

Time had been passing, the sun going down very slowly, clouds running away from their places, and soon realized we had been scampering after the other for a long while and thought something is a bit strange going on, so I stopped by the next person I saw, grabbed the shirt of their collar, brought him up into the air, and said," Did you by chance see Izaya Orihara? That damn flea dressed as an eskimo?" The guy I had lifted up off the floor looked scared for his life and was doing a great deal of shaking and pointed in the direction I had never turned to before… "So he went that way huh?" I dropped the jitter-bug onto the cement floor and ran to the direction that suspicious guy pointed to… _That guy was awfully strange_… I thought. _Why would Izaya ever go this way? There were no cars going this way, nor were there many hiding places… Or maybe this is the reason he ran here! Maybe he wanted to trick me into turning back so I wouldn't find him here. Well, he is not going to trick me today!_ I bolted even faster than before, the wind blowing in my eyes, making me unable to see everything clearly, and my head looking down at my running feet, moving faster than a humming bird's wings. "Today he is going to die and that is fina-!" And that's where everything started to spin, a slight pain in my head, my back landing on the ground, and the sound of one voicing a painful groan was perceived… "Ughhh…" I moaned. With my right hand rubbing the top of my head, I sat back up with my left hand supporting my weight and painfully opened my eyes, widening as I caught a glimpse of someone in a pink kimono who looked exactly like Izaya...


	2. Chapter 2: A Little Bit Closer to you

Sakuraya's POV

"Ow…" I whimpered to myself. I pushed myself back up onto my feet, sitting up with my knees in front of me and my left hand supporting my body. I lightly rubbed the same spot that I hit my head on my cottage… I hit it again, this time harder and now it's more painful (Like, I swear if I hit it any harder, I would have amnesia). "Owwwieeeee!… It hurts!" I don't like getting hurt… I don't like bumping into strangers either because they are just plain scary! I immediately stood up and reached out my hands to apologize to the stranger. "I-I-I-I'm so sor-" However, I stopped mid-sentence when I looked at the person I had bumped into… He was certainly Japanese, but his hair was blonde (Dyed?) and he was wearing a bartender outfit… I would describe his personality, the only problem is that he was wearing sunglasses (I can only predict people's personality through their eyes…). He… He was actually kind of cute with the sunglasses on, though. You know, even if I didn't know this guy…

"I-I… I.." I couldn't talk as I felt a warm surge run through my face. From then on, I could tell I was blushing. I started to stutter, words of nonsense coming out instead. " I-I… I… W-Well… Uh…" Without warning, the (VERY tall) bartender swiftly stood up on his feet and looked down at my small, trembling figure for a short while. Without notice, he pulled his arm back, then pushed it forward directly into my face. I felt a VERY sharp pain in my cheek, pushing me back, flying, and ended up falling onto the floor and my back burning from being dragged across the floor from the blow (THAT HURT A LOT!).

I looked up at the sky, dizzy and in pain. I attempted to move, but the pain stabbing me in the back prevented me from doing so. "Izaya…" My vision started to go hazy at the moment that tears gushed out of my eyes. My face scrunched together as the scrapes all over my body started to throb. I closed my eyes and made an effort to grasp the floor, only grabbing dirt, and screamed, "Izaya! Izzzaaaayyaaaaa! IZAAAYAAA!" wishing for his help.

Shizuo's POV

I shuddered as I heard the name of the flea repeatedly. 'What's going on?' I thought to myself. This person whom I had met clearly knew who Izaya was… But isn't this Izaya? I began to debate with myself about this person I just bumped into. But, what if I'm actually wrong about this? Who is this person who looks like Izaya, and how does he know him?

I would've thought of more questions if this copy of Izaya didn't wail as much. "WILL YOU JUST BE QUIET FOR FIVE MINUTES?" I shouted at this crybaby. All that did was make him… Her cry even louder. Seriously, I don't know what this person's problem was, nor do I know how he (He? Or she?) knew Izaya... I placed my hand on my forehead and shook my head. I felt the pounding in my head and knew a head ache would be occurring soon. I faced the facts. This bug had to be quiet or I was going to shut the thing up myself the hard way.

I walked over to the person, took the cigarette out of my mouth, and crouched down closer to the floor, knees in front and the forefront of my foot holding up my weight. "Hey. How do you know Izaya Orihara, huh?" I asked the person as gently as I could. However, I guess when I try to look as gentle as I can, all that happens is that I scare the thing, and it bolted onto its feet. "D-Don't hurt me, please!" The pink kimono-wearing person begged. I stood up and put the cigarette back in my mouth. I ran a hand through my bleach blonde hair, and shook my head. I didn't get why people always thought that if they ran into me, I would beat them to a pulp. That's only if they messed with me. I really don't like violence… I attempted a reassurance. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you, I just wanted to know how you knew-" I didn't finish that sentence because the person had ran off, a dust cloud following after them. "What the hell?" I quickly dashed off onto the trail ahead of me, trying to find out who this person was and squeezing information out of them.

I ran at top speed, looking left and right for this person, scared for his/her life. For a few more seconds, I thought that I had lost the thing until I saw a small and isolated cottage out in the rural open. 'Maybe I could find help there', I thought to myself, and charged toward the door of the house as if it was the finish line for a marathon. I jumped over bushes, dodged all trees in my way, and jumped over the small railing put around the house. "HEY, BUG! ARE YOU IN THERE?" I shouted to the house, waiting for a response. I heard nothing in the silence of the moment, so I walked over to the doorstep, and listened closely, putting my ear to the bumpy cold wall. I heard a small voice sobbing and trying to quiet itself (I might've seemed a bit like a creeper to people that may have been passing by, but luckily no one wasn't) and recognized it as the bug's crying. I lightly knocked on the wall, and everything became completely silent.

I thought about how I had treated this person. Memories of hitting the confused thing came into pictures in my mind. Maybe I had scared it much more than I had meant to… (You couldn't blame me, she/he looked like Izaya!) It's small frame trembling… It's big brown eyes, his or her small hands, the pink kimono (that looked exactly like my cousin Tsugaru's kimono, just a different color), it's voice… I shook my head. 'What am I thinking about?' I thought to myself, lightly punching my head. I have to get information out of this bug that looked exactly like Izaya.

"Hey, are you in there?" I knocked on the door again. No response. I kind of expected that. I sighed as I scratched the back of my head. Never in my whole life would I have expected to say this to a person who looked like Izaya…

"Hey, I…. I'm sorry that I hit you…" I said to the door. "I really didn't mean to, I swear… I thought you were Izaya for a second. And the thing is, Izaya and I have a really bad relationship. We're like enemies… And, well…" No response, yet again. I was running out of things to say. "I just wanted to know how you know Izaya Orihara, and how come you look just like him…" I stood there, staring at the floor with my head leaning against the door for support. I took off my sunglasses and took the cigarette out of my mouth and breathed out. I didn't need them right now… I went back into my standing position, turned, and began to walk. There was no hope for this person to come out of the house.

"Wait!" I heard someone (attempt to?) shout behind me. I turned around, and ca-chink, the door opened. The small figure I saw earlier stood before me, eyes red and puffy from crying. He/She was just like how I saw him/her earlier…

"Don't go…" This person begged. I stood there, shocked. The figure swallowed, opened it's mouth, and said,

"I'm Sakuraya, Sakuraya Orihara. Wh-who are you?"

It was weird. I swear I saw a light behind this Orihara… "Sakuraya, huh?" Sakuraya nodded. "I'm Shizuo, Shizuo Heiwajima."


	3. Chapter 3: You're too kind

**((Hey hey everyone, it's been a while, huh? I've been really busy with things like making cosplays, school, going to cons, homework, and just a bunch of other stuff~ Not a fully busy life, but I have the time to write though :D~ Anyway! I decided I would upload a chapter a month, so here is yours for Februrary! Happy Valentines Day you guys, I'll see you in March~ Hopefully you like this one too~))**

Sakuraya's POV

"Shizuo Heiwajima…" He nodded. _Shizuo Heiwajima,_ I thought. It sounded familiar to me… But where have I heard that name from? I kept thinking to myself, trying to force that memory back into my mind. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I stood at the door scratching my head, it never did come back, so I pushed the thought aside, hoping that later on I would remember. Strangely enough, that feeling of danger wouldn't disappear, but maybe it wasn't danger. Maybe I was just being a bit over-cautious since he's a stranger. I walked from behind the protection of the door to face him.

"Uhm… Heiwajima-san-"

"You can just call me Shizuo." I blushed at his words, embarrassed and worrying that I may have already done something wrong. I bent my head down and looked at my feet, and my hands intertwined with each other. I moved my eyes, not wanting him to see me blushing, looking around without moving my head and gazed at Shizuo. I could see his calm, light brown eyes staring at me, curious of what I'm going to say next.

"Um, well…" I stopped talking again. I lost my train of thought.

"Hey, I have a question, if that's okay with you." Shizuo said to me. I jumped and started to tremble. No one has ever asked me a question other than Izaya… Or my flowers.

"Um…" I replied, "If I can answer it, sure."

I felt proud of myself. It's hard for me to say something confidently because I don't like to interact with people. It's hard to please us and we all are different, so it doesn't work with me. If everyone was the same, life would be much easier and maybe then I would've interacted with others. Surprisingly, though, even with the big difference, I was actually going to do something I would've never done in a lifetime.

"Um… Would you like to come-" I asked before sneezing. It was pretty chilly and windy outside. It was also a bit too cloudy for my liking.

I lifted my head and looked at Shizuo-san and he looked angry and had started to walk towards me. I began to step back into my house, scared he was going to hit me again, covering my head and closing my eyes thinking _this is it! I've made him angry!_

Click, Click, Click. I heard him walking up the doorsteps. The footsteps were getting closer. I closed my eyes even tighter. They stepped up onto the stoop of my house. I tightened my hands to my head and waited for the next blow… They stopped. As soon as he got close to me, the footsteps stopped. I opened my eyes just a bit and looked up to see Shizuo's black vest, long sleeved, white button up shirt, and black bow-tie. I looked up a bit higher and saw Shizuo's face, sunglasses hanging off the collar of his button-up shirt and him looking down at me scratching his head slightly awkwardly.

"Um…" He stood straight back up, looking at my house's door hinge. "We should probably head inside… It seems a bit cold out here." Shizuo said, blushing. He very gently and awkwardly turned me around and put his hands on my back, pushing me into my house. He stepped into the front room and looked around. He then turned back around and shut the door behind us, me walking onto the carpet. He again turned back around for the last time and was about to step on the carpet when I stopped and interrupted saying, "I am V-VERY sorry… B-but… Um…" I blushed, embarrassed to having to tell a guest this. Especially one like him who can break my bones in a second if he wanted to. "Would you mind t-taking off your shoes?" Hopefully he didn't mind me asking of this… "Uh, sure." He took off his shoes and then stepped onto the carpet. I started to walk into the living room/kitchen, showing him to the couch.

"Um… Would you maybe like some tea or something like that, Heiwa- I mean! Shizuo-san?" I asked him. He looked confused.

"You don't have to call me by such formal names. Shizuo is just fine."

"B-But, I don't know you as well as I know my-" Shizuo put his hand to stop me.

"Just Shizuo is fine with me." He declared, trying to put my mind at ease. It was somewhat shameful to call someone I just met so informally like I've known him for years. I walked to the sink and collected water in my kettle I had gotten as a present for Christmas a long time ago from Izaya (He really didn't know what to get me) and put it on the stove, turning the heat knob onto medium heat, and then walked away, reminding myself to check it in a while.

I walked over to the living room where I had expected Shizuo to be. He wasn't there. I looked around the room a bit, looking behind the couch, under the table, in the storage closet, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I walked towards the bathroom and knocked on the door lightly. "Shizuo-s… I mean S-Shizuo… Um, are you there?" I got no response from inside of the room, so I walked away from there and started to wander around the house and couldn't find him anywhere in this building. I began to panic, thinking he had somehow gotten lost in my house, but then an idea came up in my head. One idea that slightly worried me and hoped it didn't happen. I walked across the wood-floored hallways to a sliding door that led to the backyard, slid it open, stepped out, and then closed it, walking towards another room… My room… I stopped walking right in front of it and breathed in and out for the worst.

I knocked yet again on the door. "Um… Shizuo?" I heard a small murmur, so I opened the door and saw Shizuo sitting on the floor looking at something. I walked over to where he was and looked over his shoulder to find him looking at a picture of Izaya, Hibiya, Psyche, Roppi, and me when we were all younger and still lived together. I squatted down right next to Shizuo and saw him jump when I went up behind him and started pointing out who was who. "This is Izaya when he was younger. Back then, he was much more innocent. Loved to watch and observe the rest of us like he does now. He's the oldest out of all of us. The leader, you could say." Shizuo turned his head to look at me and turned back into the pictures. "This is Hibiya. He already started his princely phase. At this time, he started to demand for things. Not as much as he does now, but that's how he is. He is the 3rd oldest. Then there's Psyche, the 2nd oldest. He's very outgoing and loud and loves to play with people. He is probably the cutest in this picture, as you can see. Psyche gets teased a lot, though. Then there's our Roppi. He doesn't like people very much. All-in-all, he's the opposite of Izaya. He hates humans. Clearly, his expression in the picture will help show that factor. Then there's me." I stared at myself for a while. "I like wearing things that are bigger on me. This kimono was given to me on that day… I remember like it was yesterday." I stared at the picture for a little while longer until I realized I was really close to Shizuo. "Oh! I-I'm sorry!" I said as I fell down, letting out a small squeak. "Are you okay?" Shizuo said as he carefully put the picture back into it's place and holding out his hand for me to pull myself up with. I started to blush. "Yeah," I said as I slowly grabbed his hand and pulled myself up. "I'm oka-" Then I just realized something.

I immediately bolted out of the room as soon as I got up, and ran to the other room, slid the door open quickly and ran into the kitchen to hear the kettle screeching. I ran to the stove, turned the knob down so it stopped heating, and in a panic attack, I accidentally bumped into the kettle and poured some hot water onto both of my hands and silently muttered 'ow' while I propped the kettle properly on the stove. I heard Shizuo's footsteps pounding against the wooden boards and the door slammed open. "ARE YOU OKAY?" Shizuo yelled over to me. I had pulled my hands to my chest and was bent over, but I couldn't show any weakness to a guest, so I dropped my arms and hid the burns under my sleeve and stood straight back up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed to turn off the stove." I lied to him. I didn't want him to worry about me. "Okay, because I heard some kind of racket going on in here and thought something had gone wrong." Shizuo said. _He did hear something_, I thought. I reached up to open a shelf, but even doing that was painful, but I bit the bullet and did what I had to do and used my burned hands to open the cup board. A giant pain needle-like sensation cutting off the part of my skin pierced my hand as I did so, and my face cringed. As I brought down the glass tea cups, hands still in my sleeves, my hands started to shake and tears welled up in my eyes. '_Don't show any weakness!_' I repeated to myself. However, since nothing ever good happens to me, I dropped the glass tea cups on the floor. I immediately bent down and began to pick up the glass shards, hoping Shizuo didn't hear the large cracking noise that came from the glass. But again, he comes running back into the room yelling, "What happened?" I sat down right in front of the glass mess and said very quickly, "Nothing? Why would you think something happened?"

"You're sitting in the middle of a kitchen…"

"Well, maybe I think it's comfortable." I tried to reassure him.

"I also heard a very loud crash." He was getting somewhere with this.

"Well, it was probably your imagination." He walked over me and gently lifted me up from my spot and looked to where I was, and saw broken glass. He just sighed, bent down, and started to pick up shards. "Oh no! Don't do that!" I cried, but I realized I already made another mistake doing that, showing my burnt hands to him by accident. He seemed angry when he looked at me after observing my hands, which I quickly hid behind my back, even though it was already too late. He opened his mouth and roared, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS HAPPENED?"

"B-Because it would've bothered you!"

"YOUR ******* INJURED!"

"It doesn't matter if I'm injured! It only matters about the guest's comfort!" I exclaimed back at him. He ignored my last sentence, put his arms under my knees and arms, and lifted me into the air. I blushed and flailed while he carried me (Bridal style) and cried, "This is really not necessary, Shizuo!" I guessed he couldn't hear me because he brought me over to my bathroom, put me down on the floor. He ran around the house, grabbed a bucket, filled it with cool water, and then placed it down in front of me, clenching my arms and lowering them toward the water so that my hands would lightly immerse into the slightly cold water. As far as I knew, it hurt. It started to burn! It was like the fire was still there on me. I didn't like that feeling very much (First time burning myself).

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><p><span>Shizuo's POV<span>

I didn't want to hurt him/her. I didn't want to give a bad impression of me on him(her?), but I had to do this. While still gripping, hopefully not too harsh, his/her wrists, I thought of what I was supposed to do next. I kept thinking and looked up at Sakuraya, his/her (You know what, I'll just name this thing a her. Looks close to it, so I'm pretty sure it's a her.) face cringing. I don't know if it was me hurting her or the water, so I started to worry. "Keep your hands in the water okay? I'm going to be right back. Do you have ointments or medicines used for any kind of injury and bandages?" I asked as I took my hands off her thin wrists. Sakuraya shook her head. "Seriously?" I questioned back, hoping she was kidding. Sakuraya nodded her head, confirming she had none. I facepalmed, surprised she didn't have any type of medical supplies. "Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?" Sakuraya shook her head again. My guess exactly. I knew what I had to do.

"You have a garden, correct?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Do you by-chance have a plant called 'aloe'?" I asked, hoping she did have some. She looked down at the floor and thought for a while and perked her head back up and replied.

"Why, yes I do. Wait… Why?"

"I'm going to use it, okay? Be right back!" I ran off into the sliding door leading to the backyard and started to look around her huge garden. I stepped on the stepping stones placed around the mini lake she had filled with (A lake in a backyard? Is she rich or something?) koi fish, frogs, turtles, and many more types of animals and looked around on the sides of her backyard to find a large variation of plants. I jumped from rock to rock when I spotted the plant I was looking for and quickly skipped over to where it was. I grabbed a stem and paused to think._ Why am I doing this? She's related to Izaya… And is a part of that messed up family. Why should I make an exception for her? _I ignored those questions for now. Sakuraya needed my help.

Once I was able to yank the plant from the ground, I ran right back inside to the sink (Of course, I closed the door behind me) to wash off the stem and ran back to the bathroom where Sakuraya was, swishing her hands in the water, watching it ripple.

"Now, I know your hands haven't been in the water for very long, but can you take them out?" I asked Sakuraya, crouching down in front of her. She nodded and took her hands out, the skin color red from the blood rushing through them. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt a bit." I warned Sakuraya and she nodded. She put her hands together and I very gently put my hand under hers. Sakuraya's face was already cringing from pain, and I lightly started to rub the stem across her palms. Everytime I moved, her arms twitched, and when I looked up, her face had been formed into a frown with tears in her eyes, trying to prevent herself from busting out into tears completely. "You're doing fine, just a little bit longer, okay?" She nodded again, a tear streaming down her cheek. I rubbed the stem onto her palm a little longer, turned her hands over and rubbed the medicine in again. Finally, after a few more minutes of agony for Sakuraya, I finished and interrogated. "Are you completely sure you do not have any bandages?" After she wiped the tears off her face with her arm, she replied, "Yes, I'm completely sure." I just sat there, thinking of what to do (Seriously, who doesn't have bandages somewhere in their house?). I sighed and ran a hand through my bleached blonde hair. It was going to come to this point.

I took off my black vest and placed it down next to me and tore a small portion off the bottom of my white collared shirt._ I'm sorry Kasuka, but this is something that is needed to be done. I'll repay you back soon. _I could tell Sakuraya was shouting something, but I couldn't hear her over the tearing of my shirt, in which I was able to get a piece off. I looked again at Sakuraya, her mouth gaping open. "Your shirt," she said, slightly mumbling. "You ripped it…" I nodded and responded with, "Yes, but you need it more than I do." I wrapped the piece of cloth around one of her small, trembling red hands, ripped off another piece and did the same to her other hand. I scratched my head. I looked at what I wrapped and it did not work at all. Her hands looked like cannon balls attached to a human arm. "I'm sorry about that… I should probably-" "No!" Sakuraya shrieked, pulling her hands back. "It's fine. Thank you.." Then she turned up to look at me, but for some reason went right back to looking at her mummified hands with a blush sneaking up her whole entire face. I was confused until I realized I am nearly shirtless because of this. Then she realized what I had realized and said," U-Uhh… Um… F-Follow me." She got up and started up the stairs, then turned to the left after reaching the top of the stairwell, going into a small room with baby blue walls. She rummaged through a dresser. "I'm sorry, but I only have kimonos.. Is that okay with you?" I nodded hesitantly and picked one of the multiple kimono's in the drawers. "These kimonos used to be Izaya's until he moved out." I cringed at the name of that flea and had the thought of ripping the kimono apart until I realized I shouldn't, because it's Sakuraya's now. She asked, "Would you like a different one? I-I can provide a different one for you if you want.." "Nah," I said. "This one is fine." Sakuraya beamed a small smile at me before pushing the drawer back into it's place and said, "Okay, if that's what you want. A-And I am really sorry if it doesn't fit you perfectly. As you can probably already tell, we are slightly small." and placed the cloth into my hands. "And I'm also sorry that I don't have extras of what you usually wear..." I nodded and Sakuraya left me in the room to change. However, I didn't know how to put it on, so I called Sakuraya back upstairs and she told me how to put it on correctly. She then left me again and l finally put it on correctly.


	4. Apologies

Hey Guys it's me and I'm so sorry I haven't updated the next chapter. I've just been so busy with other things and I just haven't had the time to write it out. I can tell you the story has been planned out, but things have been preventing me from adding a new chapter! I'm so sorry, but I'll be sure to make it up to you and write up the next two chapters as soon as possible! This is all thanks to school… Yay… Well what can I do? I need school, so I guess you guys will be seeing the next chapter soon.


	5. Chapter 4: Sweet Dreams

**TSUGARU-CHAN ASKS YOU READERS PLEASE READ THE A/N:**

**((Hey hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated! I was going to update but school testing and just other stuff are throwing me off task! I have come to realize I have accidentally bit off more than I can chew and said that I would be updating 2 chapters this month, but because this chapter is so long, I haven't got the time to completely finish the next chapter. The thing is I just wanted to make this story good by following some of your requests of making the chapter longer and so thats what I did. I'm am truly sorry and believe maybe I should probably make more reasonable decisions. What do you guys think? Should I keep the attempt of chapters at 1 a month (But you guys have to be flexible and work with me) or should I stretch out my time for 1 chapter every 2 months (Updates would happen with a more definite result, for I would have enough time to plan everything out)? It's just that from March-July is probably some of the busiest months for me and because of them, I haven't been able to update as much… And I just don't Want to make you guys check over and over again for a new chapter… Another concern I have come to see there are a few misunderstandings happening in the story so I guess right now would be a good time to clear things up, but how about we just let the story narrate itself, hm? Also another problem that happened recently and for a while is that my internet broke down on me and didn't work for a while so that's why I haven't updated for a while. I'm working though! Well anyway, I'm at a mood to write, I'm sick, and got my Tsugaru kimono on [I cosplay Tsugaru! Hooray!] So let's get this chapter on the road! BY THE WAY: thank you everyone for keeping watch on this story of mine and thank some people for adding me into their favorite authors list ;u; It really means a lot to me to be able to write this story out.))**

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><p>Sakuraya's POV:<p>

I wonder if I taught Shizuo the correct way to put it on, I thought to myself. I shrugged the thought off and closed the room door behind me and started down the stairs. I didn't have time to think of such things. I have other things to do, like make a nice fancy dinner for Shizuo to thank him for helping my hand and then clean the rooms and— My train of thought got cut off when I looked out the window after I reached the bottom of the stairs. There were dark, ominous clouds gathering up, shrouding the once blue skies I saw earlier today. I tilted my head and quietly mumbled to myself," I do hope there will be no storm today…" After a minute of intently gazing at the dark, growing puddle, I pulled my head away and started to head... Where was I supposed to go? Oh yeah, the kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen and felt my energy starting to rise. At that exact moment, I pulled up the sleeves of my two kimonos, put on my pink flowery apron and said in a peppy voice," Okay! Let's get cooking!" That's when it hit me. Why hadn't I realized it before! It surprised me like the sudden bloom of a morning glory in the early morning, or the sting of a cold gust of wind hitting your face in the early morning. It felt like the sudden noise of an object in complete silence causing you to jump. It all came to me and I felt it running through me. I processed this thought carefully inside and out and believed it was the complete truth.

...

I had absolutely no idea what I was going to make for Shizuo.

I dropped my head and shoulders down; depressed, I had no plan of what to make for this special guest of mine. I had neither recipe books nor did I know any recipes for I didn't eat very much and if I did it would be something simple like a salad (I'm a vegetarian). Upset that I knew nothing, I walked out of the kitchen and back to my living room, sat myself down on my sofa, placed my elbow on my knee, and rested my head on the palm of my head to think. "Hm," I murmured to myself. "Who can I ask for help?" For a little while longer, I sat down for a longer time and an idea finally came to mind. "I'll call Izaya, and maybe he'll help me!" I jumped off of the couch and ran to the table adjacent to the other couch and picked up the phone from its stand. There, I clicked the numbers one by one, and after a bit of hesitation and checking the number over again and again, I clicked the green call button and placed the phone right next to me, hearing the repeating calling tones.

Beep… Beep… Beep… The phone kept on repeating its tone. Looking down at the floor, I started to bounce off the balls of my feet quickly, going up and down, up and down, up and down, and doing it again and again, quietly saying, "Come on Izaya, please pick up… I need you right now." And at the last minute, I finally heard the phone being picked up and on the other line was Izaya who answered," Hello there Sakuraya. Why didn't you-" But I cut him off before he could finish and interrupted hurriedly," Izaya! Please help me!"

"Whoa Whoa Whoa, slow down Sakuraya! What's wrong? Are you injured?" Izaya asked in a worried voice

"Oh no, I'm not injured at all," I glanced at my bandaged hand before looking back down at the floor. "I just had a question to ask you."

"Oh. Well, go on and ask me."

"Okay. So I have a question about cooking."

"Okay," Izaya said on the other end. I could tell he had a bit of doubt that he could answer my question, considering he didn't really cook either.

"So, like… I was wondering, do you know any slightly fancy recipes I can make?" I asked him, hopefully not raising any suspicion, but that plan didn't work out.

"A fancy meal?" He inquired. "Why would you all of the sudden want to make something fancy? I mean, you don't really eat and if you do, you always make something simple. Is it possible you may have a guest over?" I blushed at the thought of Shizuo being here. While doing that, I realized what I was doing and started to wonder why I was blushing in the first place.

"Well, considering you've all of the sudden become silent, I'm going to assume you do have a guest. So, who is it?" I shuddered at the thought of telling Izaya it was Shizuo. Recollecting my memory of earlier, I'm pretty sure Izaya wouldn't like to hear that I was with someone who hated him.

"Umm… I-" I was interrupted by Izaya.

"If you tell me who it is, I would have a better chance of telling you what to make for them. So, are you going to tell me or not?" Izaya questioned with an impatient tone.

"Um… Well, I…" I couldn't say it.

I stayed silent for a while longer before Izaya finally broke the silence. He sighed into the phone and finally answered," Okay, it seems that for some reason you won't answer the question, so I'll just give you some recipes you and your friend can eat. Heh… I have to admit," Izaya replied," I am kind of surprised you have a guest over. Knowing you, you would've ran off at the first sight of another human." I somewhat did that. "You would've slammed the door in front of their face." "I definitely did that to Shizuo…" I mumbled to myself. "And…" Izaya kept going on and on about what I would've done to any stranger I would've passed by and explaining why, usually the reason being I'm afraid of anyone outside of the family.

"Well, putting that aside, what exactly were you looking forward to cooking, little brother?" Izaya said. Well, 'little brother' in a darker tone didn't give me any good signs of anything better coming out of this conversation. "Um… Well, I was thinking of something around the lines of being-"

"Vegetarian?" Izaya interrupted

"Well, of course! You know I don't-" Izaya interrupts me again, finishing my sentence.

"Eat anything meat related. Yes, I know." Izaya's cocky tone was getting on my nerves, but I couldn't react because Izaya was older than me and he could get me in trouble really quickly.

"Yes, so if you do know, can you please just tell me, Izaya?" I asked politely as I could.

"Okay, fine. But I have a question." I removed the phone from my ear and stared at the phone unbelievably and just a tiny bit annoyed. I put the phone back to my ear and continued to speak to him.

"Well, then, Izaya, please do go on and ask your question."

"Okay, so I was wondering, what if the person wasn't really a huge fan of vegetarian food?" I froze in place. I wasn't really thinking about Shizuo now that I think about it… I started to feel bad realizing I was only considering myself and what I wanted when in reality, I was supposed to put the guest first and on top of the priority list. This whole time, I've been putting my wants and needs before Shizuo's wants and needs. "Why did my manners suddenly stop?" I came back from the clouds and shook my head realizing Izaya was calling out to me. "Hey, don't eat yourself up about it, Sakuraya. It's not your fault completely. Of course, that would mean you're hanging out with someone of bad influence." My brain stopped working completely and accidentally, I let my emotions get the best of me.

"No, no, no! That's not how Shizuo is! Shizuo is a kind person who would never ever-" I shut my mouth, realizing I had made a critical mistake. "Did you just say Shizuo?" Izaya cut in. I dropped the phone on the table with a loud thunk where its stand was and with my eyes wide open and my trembling hands covering my mouth, I stepped back from the communicating machine. I wasn't supposed to say that, I thought to myself. I'm not supposed to mention anything about Shizuo to Izaya! If Shizuo knew I was on the phone with Izaya, what would he do? If Izaya knew Shizuo was staying in my house, what would he do? My mind kept on running with panicked thoughts with different scenarios from both ends of the battle. One side, Izaya would come to my house, find Shizuo, and in his sleep Izaya would take his switch blade from his pocket and stab Shizuo in the chest. "Sakuraya?" Izaya called out, but I didn't answer back. I just continued to step back from the phone and imagine more scenarios.

What if Shizuo blackmailed me to take him to Izaya? He could possibly kill Izaya with the strength he has. His strength is the total equivalent to-

My thoughts stopped in their tracks when I realized I had continued to step back farther behind me and finally bumped into something. "Eep!" I cried, falling forward onto the floor. I grabbed the dropped phone on the table while on all fours, and clicked the off button. I flipped myself around so I was sitting down, and with my injured hands and arms behind me to support me, I stared up at the figure I had frighteningly bumped into.

This figure of some kind of monster was huge (I mean huge). This figure was of a human ghost and had a large mass of the lower section of the body, its parts flowing in the wind that blew one direction. Because of the sun being behind the ghostly figure, a large shadow was shrouded onto me and covered me in complete darkness, me being unable to identify who this wandering black spirit was.

I trembled under the sight of the ghost. "I-I-I-" I could not speak a single word correctly as all of it came out as a bunch of jumbled stuttering. I placed my hands right next to my bottom and, using my arm and leg strength, I pushed myself back from the figure. It began to follow after me. The dark ghostly figure in front of my eyes was calling out to me over and over again. It was calling out my name! "Sakuraya… Sakuraya… What are you doing? Don't run away, Sakuraya." It had a low, smoothly toned voice and, if I hadn't known any better, I would've said that it was actually soothing and relaxing. "But I cannot fall for this kind of trick," I said to myself, "because I know this is a trick used by most likely many ghosts to attract people with them and drag them to the underworld!" I continued to push myself back from the dark apparition and unfortunately hit the wall behind me. Thoughts of death were rushing through my mind, words of panic were storming in, and forgotten memories of my family were speeding past behind my eyes. I was finally able to see what had life had been like back then… A peaceful life, where me and my brothers were never separated… A time in life that had claimed us brothers so naïve about the world that we questioned every living being. A time in the world when the whole family was together… Moments in the eyes of a boy were just moments the boy wished he could live in again, knowing he could not.

"Please don't kill me! Please don't!" I shouted to the ghostly figure after it was in reach of me, but the figure did not halt in its tracks. I lifted up both of my arms and shielded my face with my hands and turned my head away. I silently prayed that I would feel nothing when I died. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the pain I was going to receive and waited for the quick ending of my life.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Huh? I thought. Surprisingly, nothing had happened to me. I still knew who I was, I did not feel any better than I was, and for some odd reason, there were these strong grips on my wrists. Maybe they were chains of heaven? I couldn't be too sure, but whatever they were, they were slightly hurting the burns on my arms. I ignored this fact and opened my eyes to be welcomed by Shizuo, a bright sunlight emitting from behind his head. I could not hear what he was saying, but he was in fact talking to me because his beautiful brown, worried (Hm… Beautiful?) eyes were staring right directly into mine. His lips were moving, trying to make sounds, but my ears were not catching these phrases, and instead, they all sounded like a complete blur. However, after a little bit of waiting and tilting my head from side to side, my hearing gradually started to come back and began to comprehend his vocabulary. I finally heard Shizuo's voice penetrating through the soundless wall. "Sakuraya? Are you okay?" Shizuo's face was kind of close to mine… I could tell because I noticed from finer details about him, like how there are specks of thin, light hazel scattered in his irises or that his nose has very, very light freckles dotting and crossing over the bridge of his nose. "Sakuraya, can you hear me? What's wrong?" He asked me a time more. "S-Shi-…"

"Shizuo."

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><p>Shizuo's POV<p>

I flinched in the flash of a second because out of the blue, Sakuraya had jumped onto me and wrapped her arms around me and placed her hands on my back, her head nestled on my chest in the middle of the living room. I looked down at the top of her head and started to feel a burning sensation running in my face after realizing Sakuraya was hugging me. This girl wasn't afraid of me? I was utterly surprised and began to slowly blush and turned my head away, my arms raised above her head. I didn't know what to do. My heartbeat was racing. I felt puzzled. "What is going on?"I asked myself_. _With my eyes looking in a different direction and my awkward, blushing face not wanting to look at the figure, I slowly started to lower my arms and placed my hands on her shoulders, freezing when I felt that she was shaking. Sakuraya was crying…

"Shizuo! You dummy! You horrible b-bully! How d-dare *sniffle* you scare me like that!" She cried into my long blue and white spotted kimono with her hands clenching the back of the thin fabric. "Y-You scared me! I!— I thought! *sniffle* I thought I was going to die! You big butt! You horrible!— *sniffle* You horrible-" I looked down at the small figure clenching my back as if she was holding on for dear life, soon retracting her arms back to her chest and lightly punching me in the chest, tears sliding down every moment of her fight. I felt really sorry about what I had accidentally done (But I was completely unsure of what I did…) and so with the fabric of the sleeves sliding down, I lowered my arms completely around her head and pulled her gently to my chest.

"I…" I softly whispered into her ear. "I'm sorry… I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry." I had felt her eyes widen, but then close, more tears sneaking their way into her eyes. Her once punching hands now grasped the laye of fabric right next to her face and once again began to shake. As time passed, she started to bawl and all I was able to do was stroke her short, jet black hair and quietly shush her. After a few minutes of repeatedly patting her back, her sobbing and choking stopped and she began to relax again.

She pulled away from me, her down-turned eyes pink and puffy and said," I-I'm sorry for just breaking down like that, Shizuo…" Sakuraya was blushing as she said this, apparently embarrassed at her sudden tantrum. "I really didn't mean to do something like that to you... Please forgive me." And she bowed her head down to me. I jumped back a little bit before I reached out and as lightly as I could, grabbed her arm and pulled her back up from to her sitting position, her head perking up from looking at the ground. She looked up at me innocently, her eyes glistening from the light above. I said, "There's no need to bow down to someone like me." She stared at me for a while longer, but then pulled her beautiful hazel brown gaze away from me to examine the clock on the wall to my right…

"I-I got to prepare something for us," she said as she stood up and ran off into the kitchen. I watched her tiny, scurrying figure escape from my reach and her white and pink with white spotted kimono trailing along after her. After a few moments of just staring at the room across the hall, she came out of the room running back to the living room and said," Um… Excuse me… I forgot to tell you I'm a vegetarian…" I looked into her innocent, brown eyes again. She looked a bit worried when she looked at me. She looked sorry, although I really wouldn't know why. My thoughts started to wander. Every time I looked into her brown eyes, I felt comfortable… I felt warmer gazing into her eyes… Safer. There was something in her dark chocolate brown eyes that pulled me in… Why? "Shizuo? Are you okay?" I snapped out of my trance in an instance after realizing she had been calling out to me for a while.

"Yeah… I'm okay, sorry. I'm just a bit tired…"

"Are you sick?" Sakuraya questioned.

"No, I don't believe so. I'm good. Don't worry about it, Sakuraya." I reassured her.

She looked down at her still wrapped hands and started to cycle each hand around the other. " O-Oh… Okay… But!" Sakuraya looked up at me for a few seconds, pausing in her tracks, but then looked down again. "W-Would you possibly be okay with-" I stopped her before she could say anything else and answered with a yes and a nod. Her eyes again were pulled back up to meet with mine and a slight blush had crawled up through her face. You could tell she was a bit taken aback and startled because after a little while of gazing at each other, she ran off in small steps toward the kitchen to avoid the awkward contact and make something for them to dine on.

After the small figure ran off to the room across the hall, I got up from my seat on the floor in the living room and started to wander yet again around the house, turning corners of the hallways, opening multiple doors of the large house (It looked small from the outside, but when you actually looked inside, it was huge), catching glimpses of the outside rural area of her house, and memorizing the structure of the house. I ran into bathrooms, empty rooms, storage rooms, and a lot more rooms that didn't look like they were needed. These rooms were dark, dusty, and completely uninteresting as a result from not being able to turn on the light and the smell being unbearable. I continued to slide open and close doors, turning the corners of the hallways and then coming right back to where I was, realizing I had gone in a complete circle. Only then did I realize I had started to smell something coming from the kitchen.

I walked away slowly from my starting point towards the room where Sakuraya had run off to. I couldn't completely tell what she was making, but from what I could tell, it made me hungry. The strong, sweet scent of an apple was easily detected throughout my stroll over to the room along with an aromas of other ingredients such as a sweet potato, fresh pieces of lettuce, mayonnaise, and many more fragrances that made me feel in urgent need of food. As thinking of what could she be making, I continued to step towards the kitchen and from time to time, I caught a glimpse of Sakuraya racing around the perimeter of the kitchen from behind the little island counter, to the sink, turning around to cook on the stove, and then the process repeating again. Sakuraya's long pink kimono sleeves were pushed up onto her upper arms and held on her shoulders by the straps of her light, pink cherry blossom patterned apron with hot pink frills around the edges of the fabric, her bandaged hands clearly visible in their handiwork. I reached the kitchen floor, knowing that by feeling the sudden change of texture through the cold, bumpy tile below me. Sakuraya ran off the opposite direction yet again, her back turned to face me. I just ignored that fact and walked over to the stove to see what she was making. My eyes widened when I realized Sakuraya was nearly making a vegetable feast. There were colors everywhere I looked, all a different array of vegetables in every pot. I continued to goggle at the large variation of food until a smaller physique had bumped into me headfirst. It was Sakuraya. She looked up from her recipe book and to me, beaming a quick bright smile at me before saying, "It's almost done! Just a little bit longer! " She then walked back to her position on the stove and turned off the gas fire. Again her small build scattered all around the kitchen, opening cabinets and pulling things off of shelves, and then placing them down to the right of her such as bowls and plates. Gracefully she did her work, her concealed hands holding onto pots, ladles, and other kitchen utensils and after a small amount of time, these delectable dishes were then places onto the low table in the dining room next door. "Its time to eat now, Shizuo," she happily said walking back to the kitchen to where I was. She put her hands behind her back and moved her arms and in a second, her apron was off and her pink kimono went back into its place covering her arms. Still holding onto the apron, she walks away from me and places the apron arm straps on a hook and then goes back to me and grabs one of my hands. I blushed at this gesture and I'm guessing she may have noticed this sudden contact because she immediately pulled back from the touch. She pulled her hands to her mouth and looked down at the floor and said to me," I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done that… How about we just go?" Sakuraya's build walked quickly out of the kitchen and into the neighboring room, me following along behind her trail.

I entered a room I had looked into before when I was wandering. A small room with only a low altitude table with cushions on each side and now instead of a blank space being on the table, the table was covered in a large assortment of vegetables, steam emerging from the plates to exhibit the factor of it being just cooked. My mouth watered just staring at the feast, but I didn't want to scare Sakuraya so I just stood there impatiently. " I can see you're struggling," Sakuraya said, "go on and eat. You must be hungry." I hesitated for a little while before giving up and diving down towards one of the seat cushions, grabbing a plate, and digging into each and every savory dish there was. I ate and ate and ate, realizing I had been hungry for a long while and didn't notice until now about how hungry I really was.

Night was soon falling upon the world, however stars that were beginning to come out were blanketed by black, ominous clouds and the sound of rain was slowly cloaking the world in a sweet, damp moisture. Me, being inside Sakuraya's house, fell back onto the floor and lied there motionless, completely stuffed from the savory meal Sakuraya had prepared with dishes left half eaten… Only then had I noticed that Sakuraya hadn't eaten with me at all. I pushed myself up back into a sitting position and looked around the room, the small form to be unseen. "Hm…" I murmured to myself and stood up. I dusted the blue kimono (It fit me perfectly) off and was about to walk out of the dining room until I turned right back around towards the table and started to put away dishes and cover the remaining food with other dishes I was able to find in the kitchen and only then was I able to walk away from the full course from this night.

I wandered around the darkened house for a long while. Sometimes I stopped in my tracks to gaze out at the garden Sakuraya kept in the back yard, but never did I stop looking for Sakuraya on the 1st floor of the main building of her house. I could not find her there, nevertheless, I went up the stairs around the corner to see if I could find her in that pastel blue room she showed me to earlier and lent me this blue kimono. There Sakuraya was, sitting on the floor of the blue room she first led me to setting up the futon I guessed I would be sleeping in. She heard my footsteps as I got closer and she turned around immediately, breaking out of her spaced out phase and looking at me directly in the eyes. "Oh," She mumbled, "it's only you, Shizuo… I'm sorry I wasn't down there eating with you. I don't eat much and I wanted to set this up for you… If you're okay with staying of course. You don't have to, but really do I insist because it's raining outside and it's just that… Well… Its just not good to be outside right now… And it's just that-" She looked down at the futon laid out neatly on the tatami floor. I stared at her back and then began to walk towards the bed and when there, I squatted down to her level and reached my hand out, placed it on her knee, and said," If you really do insist on me staying, then I will take your generosity to take your offer. Thank you very much for giving me food and a place to stay for the night." Her face completely flushed while looking at me and immediately pulled her head away from my face to hide this change in appearance. She mumbled," I sh-should probably be heading to bed now…" and immediately stood up from her previous position, running out the door and sliding it shut behind her, a thud perceived from the wall being hit by the door.

I watched her carefully up to the moment she left and from then, I lifted up the plain white blanket she had laid over the plain white futon and started to slide my feet and kimono under the covers before a bright white light illuminated the room instantly for a second before disappearing freezing me in my stance. Sounds of a cannon had been made out a minute later as the rain started to pound more harshly against the glass of the windows. That whole period of time kept me frozen in my position, right arm still holding the blanket up and my right leg under the covers. Waiting a few more seconds, I continued to go under the warm blanket and at the instant I had finally laid myself down, a lightning bolt flashed my room white once again, but after the light had faded out from my room, I heard a whimper coming from downstairs, a loud thud bouncing off the walls of the house. I stared at the door and listened closely to the outside of my room, footsteps commencing their journey towards me. Then thunder boomed against the house and again came the sound of a figure falling onto the floor. "What's going on?" I quietly asked myself. I pushed my self up from the floor and stood up. I walked to the door and with my hand on the handle, I was about to pull it, but then stopped. I stopped because I started to imagine different kinds of scenarios. What if it's a robber? What is it's a thief? What happened to Sakuraya? What could the thief have done to her? I clenched the slot to pull the door with and came to a conclusion that if it was a robber, I would rip the door from its place and injure the thief with it. From there, I gathered up all the courage I had and dragged the door open quickly.

…

I ended up not seeing anyone in front of the bedroom door. I moved my head forward from place and looked around the hallway. No one seemed to be there until I looked down at the floor where I saw the curled up figure of a frightened Sakuraya. "Sakuraya… Hey, Sakuraya, get up. Come on, it's not good to be sleeping here." I bent down and informed her, trying to encourage Sakuraya to get up from her place. Sakuraya, however wouldn't take a single glance at me. There was a silence between the two of us for a few moments before I asked a question to break the silence.

"Are you afraid of the thunder?" That she answered to, nodding.

"Are you afraid of the lightning?" I asked once more. She nodded while curled up on the ground. I fixed my eyes upon the rounded back and of the small, trembling figure before me and realized what I had to do for her to feel better. "Sakuraya, hey, look up at me." I requested. She, very slowly, began to lift her head up and soon I was finally able to see her pink, puffy eyes she may have gotten by crying. I looked fixedly into her eyes and requested she stay in my room and sleep right next to me. As I finished the sentence, she jumped backwards from her curled up position and now sat with her hands behind her to support herself, staring wide eyed at me. "W-W-W-What?" She nearly screamed, blushing. "I-I-I can't Shizuo! This is your room and only a guest can sleep in it! It would be not respectful to be sleeping in the same room as the guest! Its-"

"Sakuraya, I can tell you can't sleep because of the storm."

"But that gives me no reason to-"

"I won't do anything, I promise. I insist you stay with me, just for the night." She pushed herself off so she was sitting on her legs, crossed her hands over each other on her lap, and bowed her head down to look at the floor to think. While she was doing that, I stood back up onto my feet and slowly put out my hand to her and as she escaped away from her thoughts, she noticed my hand and glimpsed at me and my hand, her dark brown eyes a little bit lighter than before. Up and down her head bobbed until she finally started to extend her own hand to me. She lightly placed her small hands into mine and placing my thumb to hold onto her over her thin fingers, I gradually began to hoist Sakuraya back to her feet.

She was finally back onto her feet and in a stable position until the lightning bolt broke the peace in her mind and she jumped at me, her face dug into my chest and her arms wrapped around my back. She was a pretty strong girl, for a I couldn't move very much while she was like that, but I had gotten an idea to transport her over the room. I squeezed my arms under her wrapped ones and with my arms finally being under hers, I bent down and wrapped my arm around her back, placed my hand on her waist, bent down even more and placed my hands behind her knees, and raised her up from the ground, now carrying her like a bride. I held her there in my arms, her face now hiding on my shoulder and arms wrapped around my neck, and brought her into the room, sliding the door behind me. I walked over to my bed, bent down, and slowly laid her down onto one side the bed. She looked up and me and watched as I then laid down right next to her and pulled the covers over both of us. She was too embarrassed of the current situation so she turned away from me. That placement remained until the huge racket of thunder boomed across the skies and she immediately turned over to face me and put her arms around me, holding onto me for dear life. I hesitantly placed my hand on the back of her head and started to run my hand gently through her soft, short hair. After a little while, I started to feel tears coming from the small shadow resting on my chest, so I began to lightly hum a lullaby I still remember from a long time ago. This lullaby was able to have her relax and through that, she fell into a deep sleep, so deep that when another lightning bolt lit up the night for a second, she didn't wake up at all. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and used one of my hands to push her head towards my chest. I then closed my eyes and from there, I fell asleep


	6. Chapter 5: What it used to be

**((A/N: Hey guys! I'm getting back to updating as you see, again, I apologize! But I'm trying to focus on school and cosplay a little bit more than writing, so if I miss a few chapters, I'm sorry. But hey, I'm a better author than those who publish chapters in 3 months or a year, right? By the way, theres reasons different things are happening, please just continue to wait for updates and everything will make sense. This chapter is a little bit different.))**

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><p><strong>Sakuraya's POV<strong>

"Sakuraya! Shut up already, you crybaby!" Small Hachimenroppi/Roppi, wearing a red kimono, screamed at me. I dropped onto the tatami floor in the blue room upstairs, tears streaming down my face as my small hands wiped them away as they came. I looked at the smashed flower on the floor, its red petals scattered all around the dead plant. Older brother Roppi smashed the poor red Spider Lily from Momma and Papa's garden with his foot after getting angry at me for absolutely nothing. Maybe it was because older brother doesn't really like me… I really don't know why either.

"W-Why did you hurt the poor-" I was interrupted by Roppi before I could finish my sentence.

"Because you're a flipping sissy!"

"I-I-!"

"Calm down, Roppi-kun. What did Saku-chan do to you?" Psyche asked confused and innocently, his pink kimono dragging along the floor as he walked towards me. "What did the flower do to you?"

"Stay out of my business, Psyche! I wasn't talking to you!" Roppi shouted at Psyche, the poor pink brother stopping in his own tracks.

"But Saku-chan didn't do anything to-"

"Shut up, Psyche!" Roppi cried.

"How despicable little pests like you guys are," Hibiya remarked when at the top of the stairs; everybody turned to look at the door. Sliding the door open, Hibiya gracefully walked in with his golden kimono and tiny gold crown on his small, raven-haired head. Spotting me on the floor crying, he looked up at everyone in the room and scanned each and every face with his hazel-eyed gaze. "You guys are high maintenance brats and are such a bother to this household of mine." Wiping my tears away, I looked up to my older brother Hibiya.

"Oh great," Roppi groaned, "It's the brat."

"How dare you say that to someone older than you! You have no manners at all, do you, shrimp?" Hibiya countered.

"Shrimp?" Roppi questioned. "Funny, calling me that when we all know you're not any better than me. That crown is just a decoration to make you look prettier, which of course, makes you less of a 'prince'."

"I rule this house, Hachimenroppi. Don't get in my way if you don't want to get hurt!" Hibiya walked over to Roppi so their small bodies were puffed up and against each other, death glares being given to each of the individuals. You could practically see the static coming from in-between the two small figures' eyes. Roppi, with his eyes squinted and cocky tone said to the taller Hibiya, "Bring it on, Hibi-Baby!"

The two reached out their arms towards each other, pulling hair, kimonos, and pretty much whatever else they could get their hands on. Psyche ran towards the fight and did his best to part the claws of the two tigers, but none of his efforts showed any signs of the fight stopping. When there seemed to be no hope, without the scramble of brothers noticing, Izaya, with a plain, trailing, jet-black kimono and bare feet stepped past the door and shouted," Stop what you're doing and drop!" Psyche and I dropped to ground. We did this because whoever was left standing and not paying attention to the orders would get in trouble and get told off to mommy and daddy, resulting them chores around the entire house for a month. Hibiya and Roppi kept wrestling and every single second, Izaya would take a step towards the two. Finally, after a few more seconds of roughhousing, Izaya grabbed a hold of both of the brothers' ears and hauled the two away from each other, Hibiya and Roppi screeching in pain while being yanked back.

"Let go of my ear!" Roppi roared.

"Let me at him! Don't try to stop me!" Hibiya howled.

The two continued to struggle in Izaya's harsh, cold grip, each of the brothers crying, their ears' turning red and the yowls of the brothers' echoing throughout the house, sending mommy and daddy a signal that something was going on upstairs. Thump, thump, thump. I heard the sounds of many weights being suddenly pressed against the leveled pieces of wood. Thump, thump, thump. The sound of footsteps was coming closer. And BAM, the door opened, two black figures shaped themselves in the middle of the doorway.

But what I thought was at the door wasn't what I expected to be there. A flash of light from the door made me close my eyes and before I could see what my mom and dad looked like, the room had completely turned black and a faint sound was coming in from the distance… It almost sounded like a phone. Wait… That can't be a phone… It doesn't sound right… I thought to myself. I listened even closer to the noise. Bang, bang, bang… Was it an earthquake? No. That didn't sound right either. Was it… But there were no floors in my dream… Could it possibly be-…

Is someone at my door


	7. Chapter 6: Good way to wake up

**((A/N: Hey there guys, sorry this chapter took so long to write! There was just too much going on for me and plus the fact that this wasn't getting edited because of certain circumstances. I really feel so bad that I haven't been here to update the story so I'm just going to start taking control of my life and getting more things finished myself because I know the feeling of how annoying and irritating it is to be waiting for a story! Sorry again you guys, I swear I'll update more often! This time is a promise because I've been waiting for so long to get this chapter edited and published and I know the feeling of being angry for waiting for a chapter for so long! Well, I hope you guys still will enjoy the upcoming chapters to be posted soon! Don't die on me))**

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><p><span>Shizuo's POV<span>

Ding Dong. Whats that? I thought. My eyes opened to see my arm reached out in front of me to touch what I thought used to be there. "Sakuraya?" I questioned while dropping my arm back next to my side. In the black empty space, I turned around and around in circles, walking one direction and then to the other, seeing absolutely nothing in my path. The illusion of a kind Izaya look-alike washed away as did the house we talked in. Why did I see it?

I was about to put more ideas into play of why it may have been shown to me, but the same sound again had played itself to echo in my mind behind me. Ding Dong. I turned around. "Go away, I don't know where or what you are, but leave me alone." I responded to the noise, even though I knew it would not hear me or reply back. I slowly turned back around so my back was facing the direction I believed the noise may have been coming from, but a feeling of mine gave me the feeling I had to turn back around to see what was going on. I turned around abruptly and blocked my eyes, for a bright, warm light was reaching out towards me. "Shizuo? Shizuo-san?" I heard a small voice coming from the light. I didn't know anyone who sounded like that… They sounded a bit like Izaya though, but not really Izaya. "Who's there?" I yelled to the unknown voice. The voice coming from the direction of the light just replied,"Shizuo, please wake up!" I didn't get exactly what the voice wanted, so I just started walking towards the light. The diameter of the light started to get wider and wider and more bright as I went and so did it's warmth. Being tempted from being in the black, cold darkness, I reached my hand towards the light, only for the realm to get enveloped in a bright white light and only then I started to see what was was actually in front of my eyes.

My eyes opened to the sight of just one of the brightly lit, blue walls I had recognized somewhere. This time, instead of just plain blue walls I've seen in the dark, I became to notice how old the house may have actually been. Dents rested in sporadic places all over the wall, scratches took off the paint on the walls in lines, and much more impairments had been done to the wall that I would've noticed if I hadn't felt a small presence struggling in my grip. I looked down and noticed a nest of black hair I had embraced tight and closely to me. I didn't know what was going on or where I was, but it sure was strange.

Who is this person? I thought. "Shizu-!" the small figure said before coughing. The thing I had been squeezing in my arms started to lightly hit me and poke me, the pink kimono flailing all over the place. The small figure uttered," Shizuo! I-I can't breathe!" I was really confused in why this figure knew who I was and just started to release my hold against the smaller person. I looked down at the victim who I had been suffocating the present morning and was shocked how much this person looked like Izaya. Except, there was something different about this Izaya… This Izaya seemed much more… Cute. Wait, what?! I thought. Cute? What am I talking about? This frail girl couldn't be Izaya! Izaya's a flea and he's horrible! There's no way she can be Izaya…

"Shizuo. Uh-" The small, blushing girl looked at my somehow-there white kimono to not make any eye contact with me.

"Wh-What's going on?" I questioned her while raising my hand to my head to scratch it. I jumped when an unknown piece of blue fabric landed on my face while getting there.

"Uh… It's… Uh…" The small Izaya look-alike looked nervously around the room and started to push herself up into a sitting position, her pink and white kimono flowing around her. "Time to get up."

I scratched my head with the blue fabric flapping around in myself and did the same and pushed myself up to a sitting position. "So it wasn't a dream…" I said to myself quietly, the girl hearing my small thought and replied," What did you say?" I just waved my hand at them to signal it's nothing. "Sakuraya, right?" I responded. All she did was nod and then there was a peaceful silence between us until a familiar sound resonated into our ears. Ding Dong. Sakuraya's head perked up. " Oh someone's at the door! I forgot!" She said standing up. "You stay here Shizuo, okay? I'll be right back up with you to see what you want for breakfast okay? I just gotta see who's at the door." The small figure slid the door open and ran off, dusting off her pink and white kimono and stopped by a room next door, coming right back out with her hair seeming more fixed. You heard small thumps as she went downstairs, each light step getting farther away and soon disappearing onto the level downstairs.

I rubbed my eyes one more time as I started to get up. Stepping onto each foot, I pushed myself up and immediately my vision washed out to black for a second, making me fall forward, but in a few seconds, my view of the room came back and I was able to prevent my fall by putting out my right foot in front and supporting myself back up. I put my two feet back together and looked around at the room and noticed the dresser in where I got the kimono from and spot the many picture frames lined along the top, most not used. However, there was one frame used and in it was a picture of 2 adults with no face, assuming the picture was half-burnt due to the charred edges of the paper. The smooth silver frame glistened to the sun's bright rays and reflected a glare that moved up and down and across the glass of the small item, covering the photo behind it.

I carefully lowered the small photograph's frame back onto the top of the dresser in where it originally was and walked out of the blue room into the room next door where Sakuraya disappeared into for a second, walking into a bathroom. The floor felt as if i had just walked into the kitchen due to the white tile, cold and bumpy, just like in the kitchen. The counter was plain white and the edge rounding off into the brown cabinets which held items I didn't bother to rummage through. Then I looked up into the mirror and saw my tired looking self. "Wow," I said while fluffing my hair up, "I look like Tsugaru, haha. Wearing a kimono like this…" After saying that, I had realized I hadn't kept any contact with any of my brothers and thought the next time I have free time I'll make sure to give them a visit or a call.

I stepped out and was about to head downstairs when I heard a familiar voice emerge from after the opening of the front door. "Hello Sakuraya!" The voice downstairs said. "Long time no see!" I froze in my path and thought This can't be the person I'm thinking about… No… It can't… I walked to the edge of the railing across the room where I came from to look down at the front door, put my hands on the railing, leaned forward, and tried what I can to discern who was at the door, but I could not see a person, for they were still outside of the front door. But what I could see was the black and brown eskimo jacket I could recognize anywhere.

"I-Izaya! Ah, what are you d-doing here?!" Sakuraya inquired the guest with a surprised tone.

"Well, I came here because whenever I tell you it's best to come over, you usually come over the day I call you, and this time you didn't, so I got worried! Plus, that one time you called me about the food, you hung up!" Izaya responded back to the small shaking figure.

"B-But, Izaya! You told me you were busy today!"

"I technically told you I was free the whole entire week." Izaya corrected her.

"Oh… Well I'm really-"

"What in the hell happened to your hands?!" Izaya questioned loudly, spotting the cloth wrapped body part.

"I-It's nothing!" Sakuraya claimed after hiding her hands under her pink and white sleeves and placing them behind her back.

"Hey! Give me you're hands Sakuraya! They don't look good!" Izaya demanded, stepping into the house and the view of my eyes. Sakuraya shook her head as she took a step back from Izaya. What I remembered Sakuraya telling me, Izaya was the eldest of them and a few others. "Make the eldest angry and you're going to get it" was a quiet, underlying message I got from when Sakuraya when she told me about Izaya.

"Sakuraya." Izaya shouted pissed. "Show me you're damn hands now!"

Sakuraya began shaking and crying in front of Izaya's presence. "I- I can't do that, Izaya!

"And why not?" Izaya questioned back.

"It's! I- I just hurt myself!"

"Who did this to you?" Izaya queried when he noticed a small scratch on Sakuraya's face. He had stepped closer to the small and thinner figure to more closely observe the scratch on his cheek. She placed her hand over the cut she didn't realize was there.

"It's nothing!" Sakuraya urged Izaya. attempting to step back, but instead shrinking down onto a wall.

"As your older brother, I care about what goes on in this house when you're alone! Tell me now Sakuraya!" Izaya said as he stepped closer to the little one, his shadow casting over the smaller body.

I couldn't stand watching this happen any bit more. My brain lost all control of my body and ran myself downstairs screaming," IZAYA!" The taller raven haired flea turned to look in my direction, his eyes widening with confusion and surprise. Izaya's shadow danced away from the tiny body that had shrunk down onto the floor and stopped itself on a blank wall of the house. "Well, well, well," Izaya started, his previous manner changing in an instant. "What a surprise to see you here, Shizu-chan." My whole entire body shivered when the flea's voice echoed throughout the house, bouncing off from every single wall. I just wanted to hit each and every one of those invisible words. "What exactly are you doing here, Shizu-chan?~" Izaya responded with an irritating tone, trying to piss me off. It worked. I was set off by his cocky attitude and growled," I'm here to beat your arrogant ass to a pulp! IZAYA!" I yelled as I sprung toward the eskimo with my right fist up and clenched. The vexatious flea smiled as I came towards him and pranced out from my aimed path. I stumbled forward as my feet hit the ground and quickly pivoted myself on the ball of my foot and pushed myself forward again with my right fist again assisting me in my struggle. However, I wasn't able to complete my set, for the damn flea pulled a fast one on me and deeply slashed my chest with his cursed knife, ripping the kimono Sakuraya had lent me and my chest, a stream of blood emerging from my gashed body. I dropped down onto the floor of the house and felt an outburst of pain rush through me. Blood, I could feel, was rushing down from my chest and was slowly forming a small puddle of blood beneath me and on the thin fabric. Behind me came a precipitous wail from a small individual whom I had forgotten about during the conflict. A shaking Sakuraya had ran over to where I lay and exerted all strength she had and lifted me onto her lap, one of her hands lightly stroking my hair, the other hand feeling around the fresh cut that had just been formed.

"Sh-Shizuo," Sakuraya said anxiously crying, continually stroking my hair. "I… I'm fine Sakuraya. It's just a cut, no biggie." But she couldn't stop her eye waterfalls. She and I could tell this cut was deep. It was farther in my chest than it usually is… Izaya's aim got better.

I turned to the aggravating flea and said," Your aim got better, flea. But what a great brother you-!" I coughed loudly. I could taste the blood coming up my throat. "You are, making your sister cry like she is." Sakuraya bent her torso over me, her forehead to mine with her tears dropping down onto my face. "Shhh!" She began to say to me. "S-Stay quiet, or you'll hurt yourself even more."

"Hah, sister? Wh-" Izaya said. The only part I could hear before I jolted suddenly and violently smashed the floor missing the rest of his sentence. Sakuraya had accidentally touched the slash on my chest.

"Eep! Ah! Sorry! I didn't mean to!" Sakuraya cried in panic. I got up and winced in pain as the shocks ran up my chest.

"You're not going to be able to kill me, Izaya, and you know it." I said

"Well," Izaya rebuttled. "Since I can't kill you, maybe a small infection can. Get out." Izaya demanded.

"Izaya! Thats not-!"

"I am the leader of this household Sakuraya! Don't you dare defy me!" Izaya said before turning back to me.

"Get out Shizuo! Now!" Izaya commanded.

I glared at this idiot and began to push myself off of the wood floors beneath me and pushed myself up, Sakuraya's hands hovering around me. I was able to step onto my two feet slowly and in time was able to stand up straight. Seconds passed and soon I started to take my leave out the front door, blood dripping down with every step I took. Izaya took a step to his left and pushed the front door open. I laughed a bit passing the stairs and uttered," I don't need your sympathy, flea." Red, vertical lines soaked through the fabric, blood dropping down my legs and onto the kimono print step by step. I stepped down and steadily put on the formal black shoes (Where did I put my socks…?) I had worn yesterday with my regular bartender outfit and gradually was able to tread out the door, the house's door behind me briskly slamming shut. A wind from the closing door blew me over, my vision fading to a blur and then black, a loud thud following the milisecond I felt the cold wood beneath my body.


End file.
